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11 December 2011

12 Days of Advertising - Day 5

Day Five: Katie Du Fall, Stolen Rum

(Don't forget that just by commenting on this post you are in the draw to win an awesome pair of Puma kicks!)

Our fifth contributor for 12 Days of Advertising is Katie Du Fall. Katie hails from Rotorua and moved to Auckland to complete her Communications degree at AUT, whilst at University she worked for Red Bull as a sampler and taking up experience opportunities in sales and communications.

After university, she began her career with the international brand BurgerFuel as part of the marketing team, dabbling in all facets of marketing from PR to communications to advertising. She is now the Marketing Manager for the boutique rum brand Stolen Rum (follow on Twitter and Facebook). In her spare time, of which there is little, she hosts and produces a web based social media show with Social Media NZ – The Social Life. She loves fashion and beauty with a wardrobe and shoe collection to envy!

Katie takes us through her pick of 2011 - a pop up concept that sets a new standard for ‘brand experiences’ in New Zealand and also what she thinks brands should be doing in 2012.

The Best of 2011

Nicole: What was your favourite New Zealand advertising/marketing campaign for 2011?

Katie: Puma Social would have to be my fave of 2011. Puma Social is an international initiative by the lifestyle sports brand Puma. The concept has been implemented all over the world with the first Puma Social Club opening in New York in 2010.During September/October of this year it was implemented locally here, in Auckland city.

Conceptually Puma Social is a pop up nightclub thats ethos is paying homage to the ‘after hours athlete’. With slogans such as ‘scoring leads to scoring’ and ‘sometimes success is just a phone number’, Puma Social is about playing off the field. After its overseas success the concept was brought here to coincide with the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but you weren’t going find any games being screened at the Puma Social Club, the club was designed to be a reprieve from the rugby madness, a haven where sports could be played with a Red Bull and vodka in hand. The venue located in Auckland new Wynyard Quarter was decked out with ping pong tables, foosball, arcade games, pool, playstation suite and its very own BurgerFuel it was a dream for anyone that enjoyed a cheeky bevvy and banter.

The Puma Social concept was named one of the 'most creative advertising ideas' of 2010 by Forbes magazine

If you had the pleasure of visiting Puma Social here in Auckland you will have witnessed what previous Puma Social clubs overseas had experienced and what our local version experienced - huge popularity. The club was packed from the opening of its doors and to the closing of its doors six weeks later, everybody was talking about Puma Social, some nights the line to get in went up as far as the next block.

Nicole: What made the Puma Social Club your pick of 2011?

Katie: It’s the talkability that made PUMA social such a success, Auckland saw its fair share of pop up concepts over RWC but nothing like PUMA social, not before RWC, not after – it was an entirely new concept to hit our shores. It was a playground for adults and the best part was everything was on free play and there was no cover charge while the rest of the hospo industry was inflating prices to maximize benefits from the influx of visitors.

Perception wise it could be argued that Puma were looking after the locals while the other businesses were chasing the foreign dollar. The Puma Social club did a lot in the way of awareness of the Puma brand, it was a branding experience from head to toe, but once its door shut how did Puma translate this into sales? While everyone’s mind was still on Puma they opened a pop up store in Britomart, meaning the public could express their newfound adoration for puma by buying Puma products.

Nicole: What I also found interesting about the Puma Social Club concept were the clever leveraging partners to add to the experience. Complimentary brands, perfectly suited to the target audience, were integrated into the club and added to the elusive ‘cool factor’. These included Red Bull, BurgerFuel and Playstation. There was a huge amount on offer yet most was free and there was no cover charge. Almost too good to be true, the dream adult playground!

Katie: Marketing communications and PR are going to have to get a lot more reactive and quick on their toes, with social media and the pace at which a communication message can travel its now a consumer driven information sharing market. You can put a carefully planned campaign or promotion out there but expect the unexpected; Qantas twitter balls up for example.

Nicole: What do you expect (or hope) to see less of in 2012?

Katie: Memes – god I hate memes, you know when John Key gets in on the action you know you should avoid it like the plague..

Win! A pair of Puma hi-tops!

Thanks to Katie and the lovely guys at Puma, The Envy Collection has one pair of PUMA First Round hi-tops to give away. They come in a variety of colours in both men’s and women’s styles which the lucky winner can choose from.

To be in to win just post a comment on any of the 12 Days of Advertising posts - tell us what you think or what you'd choose as the best advertising campaign of 2011.